How To Massage a Dog To Poop
Is your dog constipated? Does your dog get easily distracted when you take them outside to go poop? Do they sniff for ages trying to find the perfect spot to go poop but they still change their mind to look elsewhere? Dogs can be like that. One useful and unknown hack that I picked up along my dog training journey that nobody else is talking about in the dog world is how to massage a dog to poop.
I have stumbled upon some of these techniques that I am about to show by complete mistake and the others I have learned through trial and error.
In this article, I will make an attempt to explain 3 of the massage techniques that I have discovered over the years that you can use to massage your dog in a way that will get them to have a bowel movement or poop quicker than they normally do and every time you need them to.
Here’s a quick tip for more rambunctious dog owners to consider before attempting to massage their dogs. If you find that your dog won’t even stay still long enough to allow you to massage them, then consider using Zesty Paws Advanced Calming Bites (link to Amazon) up to 30 mins before massaging your dog. The chews work by calming your dog down so that they are more susceptible of allowing you to massage them for 10 – 30 mins.
A few of my dogs would let me give them a short 30-second belly rub before something else caught their attention and they ran away but after a co-worker of mine recommended that I start using the calming treats to calm my dog down I noticed that they would even allow me to massage them until they fell asleep if I wanted to.
Disclaimer: Your dog must be as relaxed as possible in order for any of these massage techniques to work to get your dog to poop.
If you notice that your dog is experiencing signs of anxiety, stress or your dog won’t lay down then these techniques may prove to be temporarily ineffective, and trying them at a later time may get the job done.
Hack #1 – Lower Stomach Rotations
The first step here is to have your dog lay on their backs with its paws pointed towards the sky.
With using the lower stomach rotation technique, your job here is to slowly & gently massage the lower part of your dog’s abdomen in a small, tight, circular motion. Massaging your dog’s abdomen clockwise and counterclockwise interchangeably is recommended in order to increase the chances of getting your dog to poop.
Use one hand to massage the dog’s lower abdomen and place the other hand on the dog’s chest. Placing one hand on the dog’s chest will communicate to them that they need to stay here and that they should relinquish their mobility to you until you need them to move again.
After massaging your dog’s abdomen for 5 minutes both clockwise and counterclockwise then switch over to massaging them in the same general area for another 5 mins, only this time you need to massage them using a larger circular motion.
You start off using small circular motions then transition to larger circular motions to assure that you’re hitting the spots that you need to be hitting that will stimulate your dog to poop.
Remember to be gentle, slow, smooth, and to massage with a flat palm. Massaging with pointed fingers may be uncomfortable for your dog and will also be quite ineffective.
Goal: The goal here is to create a bowel movement by stimulating your dog’s digestive organs. This method stimulates only the organs that may have been lying temporarily dormant because they just aren’t at capacity as of yet for the day or your dog is constipated.
Hack #2 – Full Body Side Strokes
Step number 1 for performing the full body side stroke on your dog is to get them to lay on their side. Either side is perfectly fine and can bring about the intended results of massaging your dog to poop.
While your dog is laying on its side then start by applying a moderate amount of pressure with both hands on the side of your dog’s neck and slowly move towards their tails.
The strokes are to move along the entire side of your dogs’ body.
After completing 10 – 20 rounds of this with your dog laying on their side you must have your dog get up and walk around for about thirty seconds then lay them on the opposite side that you started with and then repeat the process.
Be sure that you do not excite your dog when you allow them to stand up. Standing them up slowly and gently will help your dog to remain in a relaxed state of mind.
Dogs have very strong muscles that run along the entire side of their bodies. If these muscles are sore, tense, or even damaged slightly it can have a negative impact on the number of bowel movements that your dog will have in a given week simply due to the fact that these muscles hurt when they poop.
It can be discouraging to poop when the muscles that you use to poop just aren’t in tip-top condition.
Goal: The goal in using the Full Body Side Stroke massage is to work on relaxing some of the muscles that your dog uses to poop. It will provide for a more enjoyable bowel movement for your dog.
Hack #3 – Sitting Dog Technique
Before performing this technique, you will need to first get your dog down into the sitting position.
The sitting position is the closest thing to the actual position your dog gets into when they’re trying to poop. This position is more commonly known as “The Squat”.
While your dog is comfortable in the sitting position you will then use your palms on both hands to apply a consistent amount of pressure starting from your dogs’ upper neck down towards their lower backs. Your hands should be positioned on each side of the dog’s spine.
Dogs can sometimes produce so much force when they poop that over time, they will eventually begin to overwhelm the state of their spine. The squatting position that dogs get into when pooping can compromise the integrity of their spine which can cause minimal to moderate damage to the spine and the surrounding muscles.
Your dog will eventually experience a great deal of discomfort and pain when pooping.
Massaging the areas that sit adjacent to your dog’s spine will help to relieve any pain or discomfort that they may be experiencing when pooping. Doing this exercise regularly with your dog ensures that they never suffer from any damage to their backs caused by a strenuous poop session in the future.
Repeat this motion 15-30 times at least once per week in order to ensure that your dog is as comfortable as possible. You will notice that this exercise will actually encourage, more consistent and regular bowel movements in your dog.
Goal: The goal is to reduce or minimize any spinal injuries or discomfort that your dog may have been experiencing when pooping that discourages them from going when you need them to.
How Much Pressure You Should Be Applying While Massaging Your Dog To Get Them To Poop?
| Dog Size | Lbs. of pressure to apply |
| Small | 1-2 Lbs. of pressure |
| Medium | 3-5 Lbs. of pressure |
| Large | 5-Max pressure your dog will allow |
How Massaging Your Dog Can Make Them Poop More Quickly
Ultimately, there are hundreds and thousands of benefits of a simple message that can bring about great results but at the end of the day, the main goal of a massage is to receive true relaxation.
True relaxation can either come in the form of meditation, massage, etc. Unfortunately for dog owners, it would be a great task to train your dog to meditate in order to poop faster.
Quick Tips For Massaging Your Dog To Get Them To Poop Quickly
- Massage with fingers closed and not spread apart
- Massage with palms
- Massage in the direction that their hair grows
- Do not massage with fingertips
- Use calming voices
- Stop massaging if your dog is showing signs of pain. Contact a veterinarian.
In Summary
Always keep your dog calm before and during performing any of these massages that are intended to get your dog to go poop. Massaging a dog that is tensed up and not really allowing you to do what you need to do will only work against you.
Your dog must be relaxed in order to achieve your intended results.
A massage is indeed a great bonding experience for both parties and should bring you guys closer together as a bit of an unintended plus side.
I hope that this article has been informative, insightful, and an overall helpful resource that you can use for massaging your dog in order to get them to poop or trigger a bowel movement that they may have desperately needed.
